National presentation of the Europa Nostra Award 2010 to the Neues Museum and the Baerwaldbad
Press release from 11/19/2010
The Neues Museum, Museum Island Berlin, was honoured today with the main prize of the "European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award" in the "Conservation" category during a ceremony at the Baerwaldbad (Berlin-Kreuzberg).
Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, was delighted: "The fact that the Neues Museum has received this top prize from the European Union for cultural heritage confirms our efforts to carefully renovate the world heritage Museum Island Berlin and at the same time modernise it for future use."
The location of the award ceremony, the Baerwaldbad, also received a top prize in the Europa Nostra Award in the "Education, Training and Awareness Raising" category. This is awarded every year for exceptional achievements in the fields of restoration, research and education. The two projects had already been honoured at an international ceremony in Istanbul this summer, together with four other "Grand Prix Laureates", selected from 139 projects from 26 European countries.
The New Museum of the National Museums in Berlin, built between 1843 and 1859 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler, was severely damaged and partially destroyed during the Second World War. After it was decided to rebuild it in 1985 in the GDR, it was restored after reunification in 2003 according to plans by David Chipperfield Architects and Julian Harrap. Today it houses the collections of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, supplemented by artefacts from the Collection of Classical Antiquities. Since its reopening on 16 October 2009, it has already attracted around 1.3 million visitors.
The Neues Museum has received numerous other awards for its restoration: The BDA Prize Berlin 2009, a special prize for the Architecture Prize Berlin 2009, the "Great Nike" (main prize) and the Nike for perfection of detail 2010 from the Association of German Architects, the BZ Culture Prize Berlin and the Travel + Leisure Design Award 2010 in the "Best Museum" category. In 2010, it also received the RIBA Award and the RIBA Crown Estate Conservation Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Excellence in Design Award in the "Historical Preservation/Restoration" category from the American Institute of Architecture UK Chapter.